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The Identity Politics of Multicultural Nationalism: a Comparison Between the Regular Public Addresses of the Belgian and the Spanish Monarchs (1990–2000)

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The Identity Politics of Multicultural Nationalism: a Comparison Between the Regular Public Addresses of the Belgian and the Spanish Monarchs (1990–2000) European Journal of Political Research 42: 601–627, 2003 601 The identity politics of multicultural nationalism: A comparison between the regular public addresses of the Belgian and the Spanish monarchs (1990–2000) BART MADDENS1 & KRISTINE VANDEN BERGHE2 1Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium; 2Facultés Universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix, Namur, Belgium Abstract. A nation-state confronted by sub-national claims may opt for a corporatist or managerial approach, where the centre accommodates ethnic and regional claims and at the same time develops an identity politics of multicultural or multination nationalism. In this way, it is attempted to re-legitimise the nation as a community that allows different cultural and ethnic groups to live together in harmony. On the basis of a comparative analysis of the regular public addresses of the monarchs in the period 1990–2000, this article investigates to what extent Belgium and Spain have adopted such a strategy of multicultural nation- alism. It is shown that multiculturalism is the core value of the Belgian nationalist discourse, in the sense that the Belgian nation is constantly defined in terms of its constituent cultural segments. The Spanish nationalist discourse is predominantly unitary and hardly reflects the compound nature of the state. Democracy is the core value of this discourse. It is argued that the more unitary representation of the Spanish nation is due to the lack of elitist con- sensus about the compound nature of the state and the dominant position of Hispanic culture. Introduction While the decline of the nation-state and the rise of regional and sub-national identities have generated a lot of research and theory, comparatively little attention has been paid to the strategies which the nation-state uses to fend off this threat from below and to reconstruct the centre. When the state proves unable to marginalise the sub-national claims and does not dare to risk a head- on confrontation, it can opt for what David Brown (1997, 2000: 135–151) describes as a ‘corporatist’ or ‘managerial’ strategy. This implies that the centre attempts to acquire a new legitimacy by accommodating the ethnic or regional claims and acting as the authoritative manager of the nationalist tensions within the state. This strategy not only has a structural component, which nor- mally involves granting a form of autonomy to the sub-groups, but also a com- ponent of identity politics. In Brown’s view, a corporatist strategy obliges the centre to redefine the nation’s identity in multicultural terms. While the nation © European Consortium for Political Research 2003 Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA 602 bart maddens & kristine vanden berghe used to be legitimised on the basis of civic or ethnocultural nationalism (a vision of a nation as a community of equal citizens bound by and committed to a basic contract or sharing a common cultural heritage), the state now has to rely on an ideology of multicultural nationalism. This means that the nation is viewed as a community bound by a commitment to the values of ethnic diversity and inter-ethnic equity (Brown 2000: 128–129). When applied within a corporatist framework, the identity politics of multicultural nationalism involves the re-legitimation of the nation as a compound state allowing a predefined number of constituent cultures to live together in harmony. To the extent that those constituent cultures are territorially concentrated and can be considered as sub-nations, the term ‘multination nationalism’ could also be used. However, according to Brown, this corporatist or managerial strategy is inherently flawed. The multicultural nation risks being perceived as an artifi- cial, state-concocted construction lacking authenticity and emotional power, and thus failing to engender national loyalty. Conversely, the legitimacy of the nation risks further erosion as a result of the constant emphasis on its com- pound, and thus fragmented, character. An efficient way to enhance the appeal of the reconstructed national identity might be to define it in contrast with a threatening ‘other’, but diverse ethnic perspectives on the history and geopo- litical position of the state often impede such a strategy.An additional problem is that the language of multicultural nationalism is intrinsically ambiguous as it celebrates cultural diversity as a value, on the one hand, but vindicates the right of any individual to be embedded within her own culture, on the other (Brown 2000: 48–49, 130). The corporatist or managerial approach also implies a reification of a single ethnical categorisation and pre-empts the development of fluid and multiple identities in society. It entrenches the conflict and creates permanent ethnic compartments for the purpose of political (re)allocation (Brown 1997: 257–258). This touches on the fundamental difference between a corpo- ratist and a pluralist strategy. While the former is based on a prioritisation of one form of identity, the latter aims at a more multifaceted and hybrid iden- tity structure, treating the ethnic communities as interest groups rather than as the constituent components of the nation (Brown 2000: 148–150). While Brown has investigated the cases of Australia, Singapore and Canada, this article focuses on two Western European states, Belgium and Spain, that can be considered to have adopted a similar corporatist strategy to accommodate the sub-national demands and re-legitimise the centre. During the past three decades, both countries have granted a substantial amount of territorial autonomy to the sub-national communities, and have constitutionally recognised the ethnically compound character of the state. © European Consortium for Political Research 2003 the identity politics of multicultural nationalism 603 In the preamble of the Spanish Constitution, approved by referendum in 1978, it is stated that ‘the Spanish nation...proclaims its will to...protect all Spaniards and peoples of Spain in the exercise of human rights, their cultures and traditions, languages and institutions’. Article 2 of the Constitution tries to find a balance between the principles of national unity and sub-national autonomy: ‘The Constitution is based on the indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation, the common and indivisible homeland of all Spaniards, and recognises and guarantees the right to autonomy of the nationalities and regions which compose it and the solidarity among all of them.’ Spain now consists of seventeen autonomous communities with different degrees of autonomy, as defined in their respective statutes of autonomy. At the outset, the so-called ‘historical nationalities’ of Catalonia, the Basque Country and Galicia obtained a special status, involving more extensive autonomous powers. Later on, this special status was also achieved by Andalusia and in practice by Navarra, the Canary Islands and Valencia. The remaining autonomous communities have adopted ordinary statutes granting them more limited competences (Solozabal 1996; Agranoff 1997; Moreno 1997). Since 1970, Belgium has gone through a series of profound institutional reforms which culminated in the adoption of a constitutional amendment in 1993, stating that ‘Belgium is a federal state composed of regions and com- munities’ (Article 3). As indicated by this Article, it is a peculiarity of the Belgian federal system that two different kinds of sub-national political enti- ties are distinguished. The country is divided both into three economic regions (Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels) and three cultural communities (Flemish-, French- and German-speaking), the Flemish and the French communities overlapping each other in the Brussels region. This complex institutional struc- ture is a compromise between the Flemish view that Belgium is essentially a bicultural country, consisting of a Dutch- and a French-speaking part, and the Francophone view that Belgium consists of three socio-economic regions, including Brussels as a distinct and equivalent entity (Alen & Ergec 1998; Hooghe forthcoming). Given that both countries fit the corporatist or managerial model from an institutional point of view, it is to be expected that they have also adopted the identity politics of multicultural or multination nationalism and have to cope somehow with the inherent flaws and ambiguities of such a strategy. At the same time, the attempt at national reconstruction in Belgium and Spain faces two additional challenges to the nation-state, apart from the sub-national demands: the Europeanisation of politics, on the one hand, and the growing transnational migration, on the other. While the sub-national mobilisation is hollowing out the centre from below, the process of European integration and the incipient European ‘national’ © European Consortium for Political Research 2003 604 bart maddens & kristine vanden berghe identity are increasingly threatening the nation-state from above. The corpo- ratist reconstruction of the nation will have to come to terms with this prospect of a European nation, which could eventually bring about a demotion of the Western European nation-states to a mere ‘member state’ status. Theorists of European integration argue that there is a relationship between the way the national identity of a state has been constructed and its vision of the emerg- ing European national identity, in the sense that the state will cherish those views on Europe that resonate most with its national self-image
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